“You need someone who is crazy about you,” He announced. “Someone who can make you feel good. Someone who will always make you feel like you matter—because you do. And when you forget, they can remind you, when you can’t remind yourself.”
Lia’s mouth hung slightly open at her brother’s words, unable to form words for all her shock. For all her choices, all her mistakes, Teddy was never the sibling to tell her to see things a certain way, to tell her she was right or wrong. He was quietly supportive. Lia had always presumed her brother was always neutral about the things she went through. Supportive, but didn’t think much about it after.
How wrong she was, to think he didn’t think about her.
“The album’s going to be a hit,” he said, sure as Lia had been when she told Cal the same thing. “And people will only want more from the band, from Cal. I’m not saying this to discourage you, Ate. You’re allowed to feel the way you do. I’m glad you guys found each other. But realistically, you’re right. You don’t want to be with Cal.”
“But…” Lia said. “Heiscrazy about me.”
“I guess.” Teddy shrugged unconvincingly, and Lia seethed. What was her brother saying?
“He…he remembers my coffee order, but still asks what I want. He keeps coming up with places he wants me to see, even if it kills him that he can’t come with me. And he never, ever makes it feel like it was hard for him to do all of those things. He doesn’t mind that I have a spray bottle for everything, that I like to fold my bedsheets a particular way. He wrote an entire albumfor me, how can you even say that he isn’t crazy about me?” she asked, completely confused. “Hoy, whose side are you on ba?”
“Yours, duh,” Teddy said it like it was the most obvious thing ever. “I just wanted to help you work through your feelings. Do you love him?”
“Yes!” Oh. Oh wow. She hadn’t been that certain about anything in a while. And she knew that for all the reasons why it wouldn’t work, or didn’t, she had feelings for him. She wanted to be with him, whatever that meant. “I love him.”
“Good.” Teddy nodded. “Bagay naman kayo.”
“What do you think the chances are that BINJ is going to keep CoBOLT?” Lia asked.
“Honestly?” Teddy asked. Then he dropped his voice, presumably out of respect for their host. “Low. They let Cal bring me in because most of their producers went to their KPop boy group—Triple Z? Those guys apparently are doing great at making two-minute, Insta viral songs, and they need more producers to keep that machine going. BINJ just let go of the rights for one of their first-gen artists, and those guys were the first to make the company money. They’re spending almost nothing on this release, and they’re testing how far it goes on just Cal, Siwan and Soobin’s clout. Even if they offered a renewal, they would only take it to preserve the band’s existence.”
That sounded just about right. And god, where would Cal be if he didn’t have the band? If all his big dreams were taken away?
“Damask Entertainment is meeting with Cal,” Teddy told her. “He’s bailing on recording today to meet Minji and their CEO. It’s actually why I have the afternoon off.”
Lia inhaled sharply. This was it. She knew Damask, knew the way they worked. They were the kind of third-wave agency that actually wanted to develop artists’ crafts, famously letting them have a say in direction, in music creation. It was what made their group KST a worldwide phenomenon.
“Mon talked to me, by the way. He said that you didn’t say yes to the job offer right away.” Teddy said. “Is it me?”
“Funny.”
“I’m serious, Ate.” Teddy didn’t even look up from where he was making himself a little suyuk wrap. “If I’m the reason why you’re hesitating on the job offer from Tryptich, tell me. Mon and I have actually been talking about it for a while. You can tell a lot about a person based on who they’re fans of.” Teddy continued, giving his sister a soondae. “And we always want to hire fans of things that we like too. Even if they keep it a secret for ten years.”
“Wow.” Lia pretended to be offended by the statement, even if she was trying to unpeel all the layers of what her brother was saying. If he was serious about this. “Just for that, no more cucumber banchan for you.”
“Hey!”
“Are you really offering me a job?” she asked, picking up some of the cucumber banchan just out of her brother’s reach. “Or do you just feel sorry for me?”
Teddy made an unimpressed noise. “Please lang, Ate. You’re not kawawa.”
True. She wasn’t. “You talked to Mon,” Lia said.
“Of course I did. Imagine having that call with him, of him asking me if we offered my sister enough money, because she didn’t have an answer when he offered her a great job. He’s really impressed with your work, Ate. He told you about our plans for Triptych, right?”
She did. She found out on the same day Minji had called Cal, the same day Lia and Cal decided they were better off as friends…or worse. Not exes. “You’re expanding into artist management, which is amazing. I didn’t know it was on the pipeline for you.”
“Not originally.” Teddy agreed. “But there are a lot of great artists in this country who just need decent management to promote themselves, and to not get screwed over, and we wanted to support that. Yabang lang eh.”
“Better you than someone they don’t trust.”
“True. Anyway, the artist management side is happening. And we really can use someone who is a fan to make sure the fans are happy.” Teddy pointed out. “I'm told the official title is Campaign Manager, but think of it more as Band Strategy. We want everything. Promotion schedules, comeback ideas, events, streams. All of it.”
In the back of Lia’s mind, she wished she could talk to Cal about this. She wished he could hear it, so she wouldn’t have to explain herself or filter anything out. But since when had she needed them for these kinds of conversations?
“You’re offering me a job as a professional fangirl.”
